The present invention concerns a watch including a case, an electric clockwork movement housed in the case, provided with display means and powered by an electric battery; and an additional electric apparatus incorporated in a removable module and powered by said battery, the removable module being at least partially engaged in the case.
It is common to fit, in an electric watch, one or more electric devices powered by the same battery as the clockwork movement and offering additional functions, with or without a direct relationship with the clockwork movement. For example, watches combined with an additional apparatus such as a calculator, an electronic data base, a receiver for radio-diffused messages of the pager type (Swiss Patent No. CH 672 870), an acoustic or silent alarm (EP 0 349 230), a sensor for a physical parameter such as the temperature, pressure or the magnetic field, a lamp (GB 2 226 661, U.S. Pat. No. 5,838,639), an electronic camera, or a data transmission device, in particular via infrared beams (GB 2 238 146, WO 96/34343, WO 97/19448) are known.
International Patent Application No. WO 98/32057 describes a wristwatch including a main case, which contains an electronic watch complete with its battery, and a removable module laterally connected to the main case and capable of exchanging signals with the micro-controller of the watch. This module contains an additional apparatus provided with rechargeable batteries and communication means, for example an apparatus for measuring a television audience, for medical telemonitoring or for access control. The removable module is contained in a separate case which is laterally secured to the main case, the electric connections between the two cases being assured by plug-in connectors. When the two cases are thus assembled, the volume of the watch is substantially doubled and can be inconvenient.
International Patent Application No. WO 84/04406 describes an electronic watch having on the back thereof a housing intended to accommodate a removable auxiliary module which can exchange data with the internal circuits of the watch. No common electric power supply is provided in this case.
In Japanese Patent Application No. 53-37068 published on 5 Apr. 1978, an electronic watch of the type indicated in the preamble is disclosed. This watch is fitted with a removable module containing one or more additional modules such as a calculator, an alarm member, a memory or a signal receiver. This module can be replaced by another different module. It can be housed for example in a space reserved in the watch case. The additional apparatus is powered by the battery incorporated in the watch.
As such additional apparatus often consume more electric power than the clockwork movement, the battery has to be changed more often or a larger battery has to be used. For this purpose, European Patent No. EP 0 460 525, which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,192, provides a watch provided with a pager, incorporated in the case, and a drawer allowing a relatively large battery to be inserted through a lateral opening of low height arranged in the middle part of the watch. This construction is especially advantageous in the case of a pager watch because the back cover of the case can then be fixed and the battery hatch omitted, which means that the antenna turns can pass therethrough.
A basic idea of the present invention consists in using such a battery drawer to also house an additional apparatus consuming electric power, in particular an apparatus of the type described hereinbefore.
More particularly, the invention concerns a watch of the type indicated in the preamble, characterized in that the removable module is formed by a removable drawer engaged in the case and in that said battery is mounted in the drawer and is located inside the case when the drawer is engaged therein.
In addition to the intrinsic advantages of mounting the battery in a drawer, which greatly facilitates the replacement of the battery, this solution allows the additional apparatus, which can consume a relatively high current in certain cases, to be powered directly without the current necessarily passing through the internal watch circuits. Another significant advantage lies in the fact that the watch manufacturer can combine a basic watch case model with different drawers containing different additional apparatus. Likewise, since the drawer can be removed, the manufacturer can market a watch with several different interchangeable drawers which the user can choose to place in his watch.
Preferably, the drawer is engaged through a lateral opening in the case. The drawer can advantageously have an outer portion projecting into the exterior of the case, the apparatus extending at least partially into this outer portion. This allows an apparatus which could not normally find space entirely inside the case to be integrated in the watch, and the usual general shape and aesthetic appearance of the watch case to be kept.
Electronic control circuits for the additional apparatus can advantageously be arranged inside the case, outside the drawer, and be connected to the drawer by electric contact means.